A Party for Reid
by psychokid
Summary: When Hoth realizes he's forgotten Reid's birthday, he tries to make it right. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds, none of the characters, except for Detective Norris, belong to me.

**A/N: **Well this...is a joke. Today is my 18th birthday, and my parents kinda forgot. For some reason, this little tid-bit popped into my head. This is merely a joke, and should not be taken seriously. It is ooc, and there are bits that lack logic. Rated T for bad words and some innuendo.

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Detective Norris walked back into the police station, beaming. A serial killer, named Taylor Adams, had just been caught, and his latest victim had been saved. And he owed the success of the killer's capture to the FBI profiling team that had stepped in to help. Walking over to the team's leader, he offered his hand. Hotch smiled, and shook his hand cordially, relief pouring off both of the men.

"Thank you, Agent Hotchner. I have to admit, I was skeptical about the whole 'profiling' thing, but you and your team have truly proved your abilities. We wouldn't have caught Adams without you."

Hotch glanced over his shoulder at one of his agents, Dr. Reid, who was telling a group of intrigued cops about the origins of secret codes, before looking back at Detective Norris. "I'm just glad we could help. But, really, I think most of the credit goes to Reid. We wouldn't have solved the case if he hadn't cracked Adams' code."

Just then, Reid came walking over to them, grinning widely. Detective Norris clapped the young man on the shoulder. "I guess I should thank you, Dr. Reid. I'm still amazed at how you cracked that code. How old are you anyway?" Reid hitched his shoulder in a shrug. He was used to people being impressed by his intelligence, so Norris' appreciation was nothing new.

"I'm twenty-nine," Reid answered, off-handedly. Hotch frowned, his eyebrows drawing together. Reid wasn't twenty-nine, he was twenty-eight, wasn't he? Suddenly, Hotch realized his mistake, and his jaw dropped, and he went pale, feeling guilt begin to settle, deep in his stomach. He'd been so busy trying to catch Adams before he killed his latest victim, that he had completely forgotten that yesterday had been Reid's birthday.

"Reid...shit, I'm so sorry." Reid's eyebrows inched upwards, and he stared at Hotch quizzically.

"Umm, excuse me?" Reid asked. Hotch looked at the floor, avoiding Reid's gaze as the guilt began to spread from his stomach, through his veins, to the rest of his body, all but consuming him. He ran his fingers through his hair distractedly, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Yesterday...it was your birthday...." Hotch's voice was grim, as if explaining that someone had been kidnapped or killed. He shook his head, his jaw set tight. "I-I can fix this, just a minute."

Hotch turned and walked away, going to the corner of the station that had been set aside for their team. Norris looked at Reid, questioningly. Reid just shrugged, unsure of what was up with Hotch. As they watched, Hotch picked up his bag, and hurried over to them, digging through his bag manically as he walked. Reid's eyes widened when Hotch pulled out the birthday-cake hat, and dumped it onto Reid's head. Before Reid could ask Hotch what the hell he was doing, Hotch hurried away, pulling out balloons and feverishly blowing them up, throwing them hap hazardously around the police station.

"What the...am I being punk'd?" Norris asked, looking around, as if searching for cameras. Reid couldn't answer, dumbfounded as he watched his boss string up streamers, and banners that said, 'Happy Birthday Reid!'

As Hotch began to clear off a table in the center of the room, Rossi, JJ, Prentiss and Morgan walked in, all taking on a look of shock. Reid came out of his shock enough to move, and hurried over to them, hoping they would help him restrain Hotch before he got much more out of hand. However, suddenly Prentiss, JJ and Rossi sprung to action, feverishly helping Hotch as he decorated the police station. Morgan was the only one who seemed to understand the absurdity of the situation, but all he could do was stare.

"It's your birthday?" he asked slowly, looking around the station. Reid pulled off the hat, and stood next to Morgan, watching as his team mates continued their frenzy.

"Yesterday was....I seriously have no idea what's gotten into them...it's kinda scary," Reid admitted, staring fixated as a clown came into the building and began blowing up balloon animals. Morgan chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

"Shit, kid, it looks like they've all finally lost their marbles."

"That doesn't explain...this," Reid said, motioning at the scene before them. Someone had brought out a table cloth, and put it onto the table Hotch had cleared off.

"Well, think about it. Hotch doesn't hardly ever see his kid, and your the youngest member on the team, so he's probably transferring the affection he would normally show to Jack onto you. Jack is still pretty young, so birthdays are a big deal, so when he realized he forgot about yours, he just snapped."

Reid nodded, admitting that there was logic to that. "Alright, fine. Hotch sees me as his son. Makes sense. What about Rossi?" Reid motioned at Rossi, who had miraculously produced a birthday cake and candles, and was lighting the meticulously arranged candles with a lighter. Morgan thought about this for a second before answering.

"Well, for one, Rossi just likes to mess with you. Also, he's intimidated by your intelligence, and by associating you with a child, he's relieving his own intimidation of you. Don't ask me about JJ or Prentiss, though, I really have no idea." They were quiet, and began watching as JJ and Prentiss began passing out kazoos to extremely confused looking cops.

Reid thought about it for a moment, before lifting a finger and saying matter-of-factly, "Prentiss realizes she's getting older, and that she doesn't have a lot of time to have kids. I know she's wanted to for a couple years now. Seeing Hotch engaged in a father-role must have brought out her own desires to be a mother, and she couldn't help but join him in setting up a children's birthday party, even if it is in the middle of a police station, for a twenty-nine year old. As for JJ, she's always seen me as a little brother, and she feels as if I missed out on my childhood, so she'll take any chance to give me something normal kids got."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "So, you want to get a beer, and go to a strip-club?" Morgan asked, turning to Reid.

"Can we get a red-head?" Reid asked. Morgan shrugged.

"Sure, kid. It's your birthday, I guess you can pick."

"Cool, let's go before they notice we're leaving."


End file.
